Sorry, but its another ESA rant !

lilyflower

Have just received my letter from DWP concerning my ESA assesment.
You'll never guess the answer, (well, yes you probably will) I am not entitled to it. :evil
I have scored 0 points because I can a. apparently sit/stand in one place for more than an hr without having to move away. b. use a keyboard, pen/pencil with one hand. c. I can raise one hand above my head. I won't bore you with the rest as I'm sure many of you know the ridiculous answers!
I can't stand in one place at all for that lenght of time and was never even asked if I could . I'm left handed and can't write properly with my right hand ( shoulder problem on my left).
I have rung them straight away and asked for an appeal form, I was going to give cab a ring but they close at 4 30 so will have to wait till monday now, grr.
I have just sent a doctors not to them on Tues, which is for a month. So why would my gp say I'm not fit for work but they (who ever they are) say I am. I know there are quite a few of us going through the appeal procedures, so if their are any tips you have learnt along the way please let me know.
I was seeing a therapist for cbt as this b****y illness is really getting to me and my stress levels are sky high and now getting higher. I only cancelled it last week as I felt I was being patronised and told to get out more , perhaps try yoga and go visit museums etc. That will really help with the pain!!.
Sorry :eek: I seem to have gone on far to long but I feel a little better after putting it all down.
Had better go and find something for my tea now.
Jackie

weejean

Jackie, rant away for as long as you want, its totally understandable, I have no idea where these people get their information from, I honestly think they just make things up as they go along. Dont give up hope and stay strong to see you through your appeal. Thinking of you and sending you huge hugs xx

bubbles

Jackie love, you are right to appeal. The whole system is flawed from start to finish and the number of appeals is growing into a mountain. I am not sure if you can request a formal reconsideration, taking into account the actual medical information, instead of the tick the box and out you go method.

As far as I know the ESA is a point scoring excercise, 1 for this, 5 for that - tick boxes and not take into account the person in front of them. Wrong, wrong and thrice wrong. There are many bodies that represent disabled people, who are up in arms and petitioning against this form of assessment. People who are virtually dying on their feet, being classed as fit for work !!! Makes my blood boil, the joke is, what jobs do they envisage us all doing? For one, there are none, second, would an employer prefer an able bodied person, or one who is more than likely be too ill to go to "work" on the second day. Do keep us posted XXX Take lots of care, you are not alone in this, ESA and the DLA are often on the agenda, so we must fight every battle. XXX bubbles.

lilyflower

Thanks Jean and bubbles, feel a little more positive today.
Your right we have to fight these silly so called medicals and hopefully win. Its going to be a long fight but i'm ready for them !
Jackie x

skezier

Hi Jackie,

Don't know much about esa except they are idiots! Glad your feeling a bit more positive and good luck if you do fight their stupidity. Cris x

frogmorton

Oh Jackie :sad:

I am so sorry...how many has this happened to? So many l've lost count....and now you too. As usual it sounds like something someone has made up (your repport l mean!) :roll:

Yes off to CAB l hope for you as today is Monday and the letter arrived to late for you to do anthing but seethe over the weekend :evil

If you do a search on this forum you will find a whole load on ESA appeals, most of us seem to get through on appeal. Odd that :roll: clearly just them trying to make us stop at the first hurdle.

I keep saying this but l think each of us should stagger down to our MP with our letters and tell them how it is so that they can bring it up to those who can do something.

I wish you luck Jackie and would love to hear how you get on.

Love

Toni xx

tkachev

Hi Jackie. I'm glad the rant helped.
You are not alone! It seems to be standard procedure to write a load of bull so you are forced to appeal. You can appeal on all the points you have mentioned to us.
Even if you can sit for an hour, as many of us are forced to do, it doesn't mean we aren't in any pain. I used to sit still for long periods of time because the thought of moving my painful joints was unbearable.

All the best Jackie, I wish you well in your appeal.

Elizabeth